Ryanair crew left to sleep on airport floor without food or drinks, union says

Sara M Moniuszko USA TODAY

Published 10:30 AM EDT Oct 16, 2018

A Ryanair crew was forced to sleep on the floor of an airport office, according to a cabin crew union, The BBC and the Irish Times report.

In a photo shared by Facebook group Ryanair MUST Change Sunday, six people in Ryanair uniforms are seen laying on a floor.

The photo's caption reads: "This is Porto crew last night stranded on the floor of Malaga crew room. They were diverted due to the storm and the company left them there."

In a follow-up post to the page Monday, Portuguese airline union SNPVAC clarified what the photo represented.

In the statement, the union says 24 crew members (8 pilots and 16 cabin crew) from four flights were diverted to Malaga airport due to tropical storm Leslie.

"The 24 crew members were there since (1:30 a.m.) until 06:00 (local time) without access to food, drinks and even a place to sit down, as there were only 8 seats available for the 24 crew," the statement read, adding they had "no other choice" than to attempt to rest on the floor.

Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew responded to the photo, which was also shared on Twitter.

"All hotels were completely booked out in Malaga. The storm created huge damage in Portugal. Later after this the crew moved to VIP lounge," he tweeted. "Apologies to the crew we could not find accommodation."

In statements to the news sites, Ryanair said the photo was "staged" and "no crew slept on the floor."

“Due to storms in Porto (13 Oct) a number of flights diverted to Malaga and as this was a Spanish national holiday, hotels were fully booked," the statement read. "The crew spent a short period of time in the crew room before being moved to a VIP lounge, and returned to Porto the next day (none of the crew operated flights).”

The statement did not address claims that the crew did not have access to food or drinks.

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